I'll See You Later
by Scarpaw
Summary: As a general rule of thumb, romantic conquests were "Get in, get out, don't stick around." Though, this time, Magnus seemed willing to make a slight exception...


Hey all! This was a Tumblr prompt from last month while I was on break, asking for a Malec meeting of the prompt "You're the latest notch in my roommate's bedpost and I have a lot of leftover bacon, want some breakfast?"

This is what resulted, and I am now getting around to posting it.

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments**

**_I'll See You Later_**

_As a general rule of thumb, romantic conquests were "Get in, get out, don't stick around." Though, this time, Magnus seemed willing to make a slight exception..._

Magnus didn't often stay the whole night after a romantic conquest, but these things happened, and there was nothing one could really do about it when it did happen. It also wasn't very often after a romantic conquest when he stayed the night that he woke up alone in bed either, but Magnus wasn't about to complain. It would make it easier for him to leave without any awkward goodbyes, he determined as he dressed.

Exiting the bedroom, Magnus was assailed by the wonderful smell of coffee and bacon.

Well, this was something he wasn't going to complain about either.

Following his nose, the smell led him to the kitchen, and he decided that if what's-his-name was like this all the time, Magnus wouldn't mind sticking around a bit longer. Looking in the kitchen though, he wasn't greeted by the sight of what's-his-name. Actually, in Magnus' opinion, he was looking at something even _better._

Pale, ivory skin with hair blacker than ink curling at the nape of his neck, and dark brown tattoos spiraling across the planes of the bared back. Magnus found himself inexplicably aroused, even more so with the realization that the man was cooking bacon shirtless. He was a brave soul, handling hot grease with so much bared skin. It led Magnus' thoughts down a track of what exactly this man's pain tolerance was, and discovered that he very much so wanted to find out.

Unbidden, the man turned, and Magnus saw that the man had beautiful ice blue eyes. Blue eyes that widened in surprise when the man noticed Magnus standing in the doorway. Putting the pan he had been pulling off of the stove to the side, he reached up and pulled green foam earplugs out of his ears.

"I'm sorry," He said with a voice that was not at all displeasing to Magnus' ears, "Did you say something?"

"Not yet," Magnus didn't miss a beat. "I was about to, but apparently those earplugs you had in would've stopped any attempts at conversation."

"A necessary evil, unfortunately," The man tucked the earplugs away in his pockets, before shifting the contents of the frying pan onto a plate. "My roommate and his…" He paused, looking at Magnus as if he were trying to find a polite way to phrase his words. "…_friends_ don't tend to be quiet when they come back. Earplugs are the only way I'm guaranteed quiet when I sleep." He finally settled on.

"So I'm not the first one he's brought back?" Magnus asked conversationally, though he had figured so when he was brought into the apartment last night.

"Hope you aren't terribly disappointed," The man said, setting the pan in the sink. "All you are to him is just another notch on his bedpost." Magnus wasn't, and in fact, he didn't care all that much, because what's-his-name was the same thing the Magnus as Magnus was to him, but something must have showed on his face, because the next word's out of what's-his-name's roommate's mouth was, "Want some breakfast? I'm afraid I made a bit too much bacon."

"I don't see the harm in it," Magnus shrugged and sat down at the table while what's-his-name's roommate brought the plate over, along with two other plates and some forks. "Though why you would make so much escapes me." Because it looked as though the man had made three packs or more of bacon in just one batch.

The man had the decency to look abashed.

"My sister has gone vegetarian," He disclosed, "Or, at least, is attempting to, for her boyfriend, because _he's_ a vegetarian. I visited her this week, and I was not allowed any meat at all while I was there."

"Sounds like hell," Magnus pulled some bacon onto his plate. It was in that in-between state where it was crispy, but not quite extra-crispy.

"It was," The man agreed, nodding. "But she's my sister, so I was able to put up with it for just a week."

"And she's doing this all for her boyfriend?" Magnus asked, silently admiring the sister's determination.

"Yeah, Izzy does some pretty wild stuff when she wants to prove herself."

"I can tell," Magnus hummed, and couldn't stop himself from staring at the dark brown tattoos that swung from his companion's back and decorated his chest as well.

"If I'm, um, making you uncomfortable, I can put a shirt on." The man offered, and that just would not do. Magnus would hate for his view to be obstructed.

"I was just looking at your tattoos," He said quickly, because it was the truth.

"Oh," The other said, shuffling in his seat a bit nervously. "These aren't tattoos."

"They aren't?" Magnus raised an eyebrow. They certainly _looked_ like tattoos.

"It's henna art," He clarified, drumming his fingers on the table top. "I can't really have, well, permanent tattoos."

"Why not?" Magnus was more curious than a cat, wondering what possible explanation the other could have.

"I'm a Pre-Med student," Magnus was informed. "I'm studying to be a Pediatrician, and I was told by the department that I can't have actual tattoos if I want to work with the kids. The only reason my teachers don't get on my case about the henna art is because it's not permanent, but they still give me these _looks_ anytime they can see it."

Magnus knew those kinds of looks.

"A pediatrician?" He decided to focus on that instead, as well as the fact that Magnus had just come to the realization that he had never got any sort of name for this beautiful man. "So, that would make you Doctor…?" Magnus let his voice rise at the end to signal the question that was going unasked.

"Oh, right," He colored, red flushing his face as he coughed into his hand. "Lightwood. Alec Lightwood. I'm sorry, I don't know why I didn't introduce myself earlier."

"Magnus Bane," Magnus smiled, and offered his hand which Alec took and shook. "I'm studying Business Marketing and Fashion Merchandising– not _quite_ as prestigious as studying medicine, but it has its perks."

"I'm sure it's prestigious in its own right," Alec offered bashfully, "Besides, being a doctor isn't all that prestigious."

"Still pretty impressive," Magnus noted. "It's a lot of work to remember everything you have to know. If you don't mind me asking though, why are you specifically looking at pediatrics?"

"Oh, um," Alec busied himself with his coffee cup as he searched for an answer for Magnus' question. "My little brother had childhood leukemia."

'Had'. 'Had' was good, right? Leukemia was a form of cancer, so if Alec was using 'had' it was more likely that he meant 'had' as in remission, right?

"But he doesn't now?" Magnus ventured cautiously.

"He's dead." Alec said flatly, hands shaking on his coffee cup. Alec steadfastly stared at his drink and took a deep breath. "It took him away from us three years ago. He was nine. Being there, in the hospital, when the doctor told us the news, I decided that I wanted to do something, so no family would have to sit there and receive the news that my family did."

"You understand," Magnus said gently, "That not everyone can be saved, right?"

"That's what my sister told me," Alec responded, before abruptly standing up. Slightly surprised at the action, Magnus moved to take some more bacon before realizing that they had eaten it all. "Anyway, you'll probably want to get going, right?" Alec swiped the plates from the table, balancing them all on top of each other, and picked his cup up. Keeping his back to Magnus, Alec set the dishes in the sink as he continued,

"You probably don't want to still be here when my roommate gets back." He spoke over his shoulder as he turned the spigot on and started to wash the dishes. "You know, so you don't make things awkward. And I have a practical I need to study for, too."

Magnus was no idiot. He could see a dismissal when he heard one. Still, he did want to see Alec again.

"All right," Magnus said amicably, standing up from the table. "Would you be up for a study break later, though?"

"With you?" Alec turned to look at Magnus, water still running in the sink. He stared at Magnus with suspicious eyes, like he was trying to figure out Magnus' angle.

"Well, I do need to pay you back for the bacon you shared with me," Magnus told him. "And I was enjoying our talk right now, and thought that we could continue it later. Of course, if that's all right with you."

Alec stared at him, blue eyes piercing, but after a moment they softened, like Alec had determined that Magnus' offer was not in jest.

"I would like that," Alec said at last. "If you're okay with it, you could, um, leave your number on the whiteboard and I'll call you? I mean, when I'm ready for a break." He gestured to the small board on the fridge with a sponge.

Magnus did so, and was almost out the door when Alec called him back.

"Hey, um," Alec fidgeted as Magnus popped his head back into the kitchen. "Thanks."

Magnus wasn't quite sure what Alec was thanking him for, (and really, it should be Magnus thanking Alec, not the other way around seeing as Alec fed Magnus when he could have just as easily kicked him out) but he decided to just roll with it.

"You're welcome," Magnus accepted the thanks, because it was only proper, and then added, "I'll see you later?"

And Alec gave a small smile that was small enough that it seemed to Magnus more of a secret, and nodded with what looked to be what Magnus thought was relief in his eyes.

"Yeah," Alec nodded in agreement. "I'll see you later."


End file.
